Argentina’s Senate rejects bill legalizing abortion during the first 14 weeks of a pregnancy

Source: The Washington Post

BUENOS AIRES —  Argentina’s upper house on Thursday rejected a landmark bill that would have more broadly legalized abortion, dealing a setback to proponents of more liberal laws governing the procedure across the region.

The vote, following a marathon session that ended early Thursday morning, came at a time when countries in the heavily Catholic region are reexamining the issue and considering expanding access to abortion. In Argentina, the vote in the upper house was the culmination of a months-long debate in a nation deeply divided over the practice.

As the Senate session debate stretched on from Wednesday into Thursday, passage of the law appeared less and less likely. In public statements, a majority of the senators expressed some form of opposition, while 31 voiced their intention to back it. Ultimately, the bill — which would have allowed abortions during the first 14 weeks of pregnancy and had passed the lower house in June after a marathon debate — was defeated in the Senate by a vote of 38 to 31, with three lawmakers either absent or abstaining.

Read more